Ideas for re-launching an existing company

Hi,
I'm the president of a small Internet security company here in New Jersey. We've been around for a number of years, but haven't done much with the press and marketing of our products. We've been out of the consciousness of people in our industry. We've been focusing on our customers and organic growth through referrals.

Now we wish to reach out to the press in our industry and start to bring in new business.

The problem is how what to say to press people in our industry to explain the reason for our marketing push.

How can we make people aware of our business and products when we have nothing new to announce and aren't a new company? How can we create buzz for a product that's new to our audience, but not itself new?

 

The key issue to remember is that editors and reporters are looking for news of interest to their readers. Unless they specialize in telling their readers about Internet security companies, news about your company will not be deemed interesting to their readers. So, you have to come up with news that they can use.

Since you are not a new company with new, unique and/or innovative products, your best approach would be to have some sort of tie-in to something that is very newsworthy. E.g., was there a big security breach somewhere (there seems to be a new one every day) that you can offer a unique insight or story angle on? Is there a way that the story can be spun to show the relevance to the reporter's readers, whoever and wherever they might be?

Another fact is that reporters/editors love surveys and will help to get them launched if they are offered access to the results. Perhaps you can come up with a survey (hosted on SurveyMonkey, e.g.) that deals with issues faced by NJ businesses (e.g., their greatest security fears, what they are or are not doing about them, etc.)

BTW, do not just write a press release and send it our over the wire or to reporters. Your time would be better spent writing a paragraph with a story pitch (in effect, a sales pitch to a reporter about what the story will be and why it is relevant to their readers) and then shopping it around to reporters/editors at publications most likely to find it interesting. Once you get interest from someone, you can then do the PR and also possibly write the whole story for them (you should certainly offer to do that, at any rate.)

Bottomlline: reporters and editors are always looking for news of interest to their readers. Focus on providing that to them and you will have your best chance at getting placements.

 

Great advice, thanks. I can totally work with that.

 

You have to come up with a gimmick! Freebies, discounts, guarantees, sweepstakes ---- make sure you grab your pages on social media sites! Have you done any remodeling or changed the services to make them quicker? New and improved - voted number 1 - family owned since xxxx - 24 hour service - new operating hours - now hiring... ? etc

 

jrbiz advise is very good! Any media that could post your article online, would give you exposure
Also make sure that your selected communication channel is used by your target customer audience.
Also, use some ads, maybe not only on social media sites, but on forums that are specifically targeting this sort of topic.
When someone wants to know more about your product, make sure you have a review page on your website/page, encourage current users to leave a review. It will help potential customers to make up their mind on the purchase.

 

Refresh your product so it's "new".

There are car dealers that still have their grand opening sales a year after opening.

 

Find your unique selling point and advertise that. You won't have to be a brand new company with brand new products if you have a USP as advertising why people should come to you is one of the most important things.